In the spirit of ensuring compliance with state obligations, 46 Asian NGOs have come together to co-sponsor a collective position paper on the issues of institutional-building of the UN Human Rights Council.
This document is now open for endorsement to other interested Asian NGOs until 7 June 2007. It will be later used later as a lobbying document for the forthcoming 5th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva from 11-18 June 2007.
Many Asian NGOs welcomed the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council (Council) in March last year and remain hopeful that the Council will be an effective body to bring redress and justice to human rights victims worldwide.
Nevertheless, there are concerns that the current debate on important institution-building issues is being navigated in the wrong direction by the majority of Council members, with attempts to erode the effectiveness of international human rights protection mechanisms and to derogate from international human rights standards. It is worrisome that many Asian governments advocate for state control of independent human rights mechanisms such as the mandate of the Special Procedures.
In the spirit of ensuring compliance with state obligations, 46 Asian NGOs have come together to co-sponsor the Asian NGOs’ Position Paper on Institutional-Building Issues of the UN Human Rights Council .
This document is now open for endorsement to other interested Asian NGOs until 7 June 2007. It will later be used as a lobbying document for the forthcoming 5th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva from 11-18 June 2007. It is expected that the Council will finalise the modality for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and seal the fate of the UN Special Procedures and other international human rights mechanisms. This action will definitely have an impact on the daily work and operation of Asian NGOs. Asian NGOs must seize this opportunity to assert their views in the current negotiation process.
Visit the the Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy (SAPA) website for further details.